


i don't mind all the chaos (it keeps me alive)

by aztec234



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Ghosts, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Luka Couffaine Is Scared of Spiders, Luka Couffaine Loves Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Makeouts, Making Out, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is Over Adrien Agreste, Marinette swears a lot when she's sleep deprived, Marinette would make an excellent fortune teller if she weren't a superhero, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Romantic Soulmates, Sloppy Makeouts, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tarot, just saying, whispers in your ear: make this canonnnnn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26749183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aztec234/pseuds/aztec234
Summary: A series of one-shots inspired by Hauntober prompts.Title inspired by 'Devil's Worst Nightmare' by FJØRA.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Tikki, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Sabrina Raincomprix, Chloé Bourgeois/Kagami Tsurugi, Ivan Bruel & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Juleka Couffaine & Luka Couffaine, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Luka Couffaine & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marc Anciel & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Plagg, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki
Comments: 50
Kudos: 79





	1. Day 1 - Pumpkin

**Author's Note:**

> Read it on [Tumblr](https://aztec234.tumblr.com/post/630780670149525504/i-dont-mind-all-the-chaos-it-keeps-me-alive).
> 
>  **Warnings:** \--

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien and Marinette's friendship as they combat an Akuma. A little angsty at the end.

Honestly, after everything that had happened since Marinette turned twelve, she really shouldn’t have been surprised. Between superpowered mass-Akumatizers, magic, floaty bug-like gods, and jewelry which basically turned her into Sailor Moon 2.0, but, like, in spandex, where was the time?

But the world has managed to defy her expectations once more, and as Marinette stared out of her classroom window, watching as _pumpkins_ fell from the sky, she wondered if this was the way Karma simply told her, _whatever you think I can’t do, I will do_.

 _And I will do it in the weirdest way possible_.

“It’s an Akuma,” Alix breathed on her right. “It has to be.”

Alya, apparently stunned into silence, only nodded, her eyes the size of eggs as she stared at the big, fat, orange vegetables raining down and splattering on the sidewalk, and occasionally boinking unsuspecting civilians on the head.

Marinette quietly extracted herself from the mob that had formed in front of the window and jogged out of the classroom, finding an empty hallway and shutting herself inside the janitor’s closet, straining her ears for the sound of footsteps.

As the tell-tale squeaking of sneakers hurried just in front of the closet, accompanied by two panicked voices, Marinette flung the door open, grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt, dragged him inside, and locked the door. All in record time.

“What the- _Marinette_?” Adrien Agreste blinked at her in confusion, Plagg hovering over his shoulder. “What are we doing in a janitor's closet?”

“Nobody’s used this closet in years.” She held up a ring of keys. “And even if they needed to, they won't be able to get in.”

Adrien’s eyes brightened in excitement. “So this is like some sort of utility space for us whenever we need to transform and stuff?” When Marinette nodded, he hissed, “ _Cool!_ ”

Plagg appeared before her, right in her face and startling her, munching on a piece of camembert which usually smelled pretty bad, but smelled even worse when it was _right_ in front of her nose. “You also stocked this place with cheese!”

“Stop eating Plagg!” Tikki called, poking her head out of Marinette’s collar. “We have an Akuma to fight.”

Adrien nodded. “Right. I checked TVi’s news channel already, and apparently the Akuma’s near the cemetery. That’s where it’s raining pumpkins the hardest.” He froze for a brief second and groaned. “ _Raining pumpkins_. Kwami, that sounds so weird.”

“Wrong too,” Marinette muttered, shuddering. “Let’s go get that Akuma.”

* * *

Chat Noir stared, and then stared some more.

First, he and Ladybug had incredible difficulty getting to the cemetery, with both of them constantly being plagued by a volley of pumpkins – Ladybug had gotten hit six times. He had gotten slammed seven.

Then, once they had finally gotten there, they had spent almost ten whole minutes trying to find a shelter that wouldn’t collapse on top of them from the weight of the pumpkins.

Now…

“Are you sure _that’s_ the Akuma?”

Ladybug glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “He literally has a pumpkin for a head, Chat. I don’t think things can be any more obvious.”

The cat hero tilted his head, still not taking his eyes off of the Akuma. “He looks like Eddie.”

“Who?”

“Uh, nobody. You got a plan of action?”

Ladybug shook her head. “Not yet. The only thing we know so far is that he can make pumpkins fall from the sky. Hawkmoth would _really_ be losing his edge if that’s the only thing he’s able to do.”

“Better for us though. He once Akumatized a freaking baby, Bugaboo. I wouldn’t hold him to much hope.”

She snorted, which turned into a strangled sound as she spotted something. “What the hell is _that_?!”

A dozen or so people, each of them holding multiple pumpkins, were treading like zombies towards the Akuma, disposing the vegetables at his feet and then clumping together like the Brady Bunch, waving their hands at him as the child-aged pumpkin-headed supervillain of the week shrieked in laughter, jumping up and down like a toddler on a sugar high.

“Uh, Headless Horseman’s son, who isn’t so headless, commands armies of brainwashed people to bring him pumpkins so he may find a head for his father?” Chat shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah. I’m beat.”

Ladybug clicked her tongue. “It’s getting late, and my parents are going to start worrying. We have to capture the Akuma quickly.”

Chat grinned at her. “No worries, Milady! It’ll be a piece of cake.”

* * *

It was not, in fact, a piece of cake.

It was like a piece of cold, hard cement thrown directly at your face.

For an Akuma as tiny as Pumpkin Boy – as he had christened himself – his resolve was quite big. In just the span of three hours, he had thwarted every single one of their attempts at getting close, wielding the pumpkins with killer intent and launching them at the heroes at a high velocity, which more often than not caused major bruises for the receiving party.

“That dude’s like Robin Hood,” Chat panted, rubbing at his chin where a brilliantly purple bruise was blooming. “Except, like, not furry.”

Ladybug gave him a strange look. “When was Robin Hood furry?”

“Uh, Walt Disney. Duh.”

“Walt Disney has a Robin Hood movie?”

Chat gapped at her. “ _Obviously_.”

“Oh,” Ladybug muttered, ducking down as a pumpkin sailed over her head. “Hey, I see an opening. Just follow my lead.”

As she jumped off the roof, Chat shook his head before following. “Can’t believe she hasn’t watched Robin Hood.”

* * *

“ _Hey!_ Pumpkin Boy!” Ladybug called as she crouched down on the pavement, glaring up at Akuma who had taken to stand on top of the monument that lay splat in the middle of the cemetery.

“Ah, Ladybug! Chat Noir!” the Akuma shouted, practically ricochetting off the monument in his excitement.

“My god,” Chat muttered from behind her. “He even _sounds_ like Eddie.”

“Still don’t know who that is,” Ladybug muttered back. She raised her voice to address Pumpkin Boy. “You wanna tell me what you’re doing up there?”

“I’m making it rain pumpkins, obviously!” he called back. “Now everybody will have pumpkins for Halloween!”

Ladybug blinked at him. “Huh?”

Chat preened in confusion. “Isn’t Halloween like a month away? You do know it’s still the beginning of October, right?”

“The month shall come to an end soon!” Pumpkin Boy cried, dancing erratically on the monument, and for a brief second, Ladybug was convinced he would pirouette wrong and fall off. Except he didn’t, but he did continue his speech. “Halloween shall begin, and with it, the feast of souls shall come!”

“Is he for real?” Chat whispered in her ear as the Akuma prattled on, absolutely engrossed in his thoughts. “Dude’s like a Halloween fanatic.”

Ladybug responded with a half-hearted shrug. “He’s just, really, _passionate_ about Halloween? I guess…” Even to her own ears, it sounded incredibly disbelieving.

“Yeah, well, he’s completely caught up in his ramblings. Think you can find the Akumatized object?”

She smacked her forehead. “I completely forgot about that!”

“…Seriously?”

* * *

“Pound it!” Chat and Ladybug cried, bumping their fists together as the police officer reunited the sobbing Akuma victim with his equally tearful mother.

“Who knew that something as small as pumpkins could cause an Akumatization, ey, Chat?” Ladybug blinked when her partner didn’t respond. “Chat, what—”

She froze, silently following his gaze as he stared at the mother crushing the boy in a hug. He jolted slightly, turning back to her. “Sorry, Bugaboo. Did you say something?”

Ladybug looked at him for a second longer before softly shaking her head. “No. Nothing at all.” She glanced up at the sun, which was now sinking into the horizon. “It’s late. We should get going now.”

“Guess your right,” Chat muttered, leisurely stretching. “See you at the rendezvous spot?”

“Always.”

* * *

“He reminded me of myself,” Chat whispered, laying his head in Ladybug’s lap. “I used to love Halloween cause it was my Mom’s favorite. We would go to the market and buy lots of decorations and costumes and sometimes we even managed to rope Dad in. He used to say that it was troublesome but we both knew that he secretly enjoyed it. We haven’t really celebrated it since her disappearance.”

“You can celebrate with me,” Ladybug murmured, running her fingers through his hair. “Maman and Papa have already adopted you as part of the family. All you need to do is meet my _zumu_ and you’ll become an official Dupain-Cheng.”

Chat chuckled. “Adrien Dupain-Cheng. That sounds nice.”

Ladybug hummed absentmindedly. “We can go looking for decorations tomorrow if you want.”

He looked up at her in wonder and grinned as if his birthday had come again. “Really?”

“Consider it an extra birthday gift from me.”

“Aw, you’re so considerate, Bugaboo. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Ladybug said, smiling softly at him. “We should go now. We need to sleep.”

Chat swung off her lap immediately, planting his fists on either side of his waist. “Alrighty!”

Ladybug climbed to her feet too, reaching out her hand to affectionately ruffle his head just as—

“Hey, do you hear that?”

Ladybug blinked in confusion before furrowing her eyebrows, straining to hear whatever Chat had heard. “It sounds like… _hooves_?”

They both stared at each other.

“Nah, it couldn’t be—”

“Well, I did call him the son of the Headless Horseman—”

“He’s a myth, Chat!”

“We wear magical jewelry that occasionally gets occupied by bug-like gods!” Chat waved his hands in the air. “I think we’re past the point of _myths_ , Bugaboo!”

Ladybug sighed, scrubbing her hand over her face. “Well, I guess it _is_ Halloween.”

“Anything is possible!”

“…Did you just quote _Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse_ on me?”

“Oh, so you know freaking _Barbie_ but you don’t know Walt Disney’s Robin Hood?!”

“That’s completely out of context, Chat! The only Robin Hood I know is from the _Tom and Jerry_ movie!”

“Screw Halloween, you and I are having a Disney marathon. I will _not_ be best friends with somebody who doesn’t appreciate furry Robin Hood.”

“Dream on, Chat. Dream on.”

* * *

Somewhere, in the distance, a horse ran through a field, with a rider who had his head in his hands.

Quite literally.


	2. Day 2 - Leaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lukanette ft. an exasperated Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

“There’s a leaf in your hair, Marinette,” Luka Couffaine said, reaching his hand out to pluck said item out of her hair.

“ _Oh!_ I-I didn’t notice, are there more? Maman will get angry if I mess up my hair, and I don’t generally like leaves in my hair because they’re a pain to get out afterward, _not that I don’t like leaves_ or anything, it’s just they’re really, really smooth and they stick to my hair like glue, or is it tape, which do you think sounds better? Gah! I’m rambling, sorry!”

Luka chuckled, regarding Marinette with a fond look. ‘Relax, I’m just here to pick up Juleka’s order.”

Marinette blinked at him, before remembering—

“ _Oh_ , the macaroons! I’m so sorry, I _completely_ forgot, not to make them, I mean, like giving them to you. I hope she likes them, I used that filling she requested. She tasted it last time and seemed to really like it, and I did my best to re-create it, but I’m not sure if I got it right, and um, here!” she held out the packet, her ears a brilliant red.

Luke took the packet from her, his fingers brushing hers in the process, and her ears darkened.

 _Get it together, girl_ , Alya’s voice reminded her.

Taking a deep breath, she stuttered out, “I also packed some extras for you in case you want any, but it’s alright if you don’t eat them, _not that I’m telling you not to eat any_ , but it’s fine if you don’t, I just did them because I wanted to, and you’re a very dear friend and all—”

Her words were cut off as Luka reached out and grasped her hands tightly, and Marinette swore that her soul left her body for a few moments. “Thank you.”

The smile he gave her made her want to melt into a puddle.

“You’re-you’re welcome,” she breathed as he stepped out of the bakery.

“ _You’re a very dear friend?!_ ” Adrien hissed, coming up behind her. “ _Friend?!_ You might have just told him that you saw him as an older brother figure!”

“Sh-shut up. He held my hand, _oh god_ he held my hand and he said thank you and he _smiled_ at me! At _me_!” Marinette spun to face him, the flush from her ears now coating her cheeks. “ _Adrien!_ ”

“You just friend-zoned the guy you like,” Adrien pointed out, but Marinette didn’t notice him, too high on the memory of Luka Couffaine.

He sighed, plucking another leaf out of her hair. She didn’t notice that either.


	3. Day 3 - Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybugs get cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

Tikki had already explained to him, about how Ladybug Holders became extremely sensitive to the cold, but this was honestly ridiculous.

“Uh, Marinette?” Alya hesitantly questioned, staring at the lump of jackets that had sat down next to her. “Is that you?”

The rustling of fabric was her only answer before bluebell eyes peeked up on top of the bundle, curiously glancing at her friend before muttering “Cold” and burrowing back in.

Alya blinked at her before giving a questioning glance at Nino and Adrien, the former giving her a hesitant smile and the latter shrugging his shoulders before turning to the front of the class, where Madam Bustier was starting the lesson.

* * *

“Alright, you big baby,” Adrien said, setting Marinette down on her bed. “Get out of your mountain.”

“No. Cold.”

Adrien’s eye twitched. “Get out.”

“No.”

“Get out or I will _make_ you.”

“Don’t care.”

Plagg floated up to his face, patting his cheek. “Don’t force her. Ladybugs generally fall sick a lot. This is just her making sure it won't happen to her.”

Adrien sighed. “But, what do I do? I can’t leave her like this.”

“C’mon on. I’ll tell you.”

* * *

Marinette rose her head from her blanket. “What’s that smell?”

Adrien held out a mug, which steamed gently. “I made you tea. Plagg said that it would help with the cold.”

She eyed it critically before slowly reaching out her glove-clad hand and taking it. She took a moment to smell in the fumes before taking a sip and letting out a satisfied sigh.

“See,” Plagg said. “I told you it would work.”


	4. Day 4 - Candy Apples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette tries to get Adrien a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

“Alright,” Marinette declared, standing in the middle of Adrien’s room and planting her fists at her hips. “I’m getting you a date.”

The blond boy raised his eyebrow. “For what?”

“The Halloween Blast that Chloé is hosting at the Grand Palais. You need a date.”

“Is it a requirement?”

“No.”

Adrien leaned back on his couch, sighing. “Then why do I need one?”

“Because you’ll look pathetic just standing there alone.”

“Aren't you going to be accompanying me? I imagine that you still haven’t built up the guts to ask out Luka.”

Marinette’s cheeks flushed. “This isn’t about me. It's about you. C’mon, Sunshine Child. Let’s get you a date.”

* * *

**Date #1**

She was nice. Adrien really had to give her that. But she was just trying _too_ hard.

Her face was caked in a thick layer of foundation, and her lipstick really didn’t suit her. Her dress was very nice though, and she certainly knew how to handle her hair.

All in all, he really had to give it to her. They both shared similar interests, spoke more than one language – him Chinese, her Polish – and she also very passionately told him about her dream of traveling the world. 

“So,” she began. “What sweets do you like? My favorite is candy apples.” 

Adrien's good mood immediately disappeared. 

* * *

**Date #2**

His leg was absolutely not co-operating. But as the boy – he’d forgotten his name within the first five minutes – droned on, he couldn’t really find it in himself to care.

This date was _boring_.

* * *

**Date #3**

It had only been ten minutes since the date started and Adrien already wanted out.

She was just so _handsy_.

Her body was pressed uncomfortably close to his, her foot sliding up his calf and her hands roaming his shoulders and back.

“So, handsome,” she purred in his ear, and Adrien automatically flinched.

Just as her hand dropped dangerously low, he got up and walked away.

* * *

“Where the hell did you even meet her?!” Adrien sputtered, towel-drying his hair rigorously. “I had to take three whole showers _just_ to get her perfume off me!”

Marinette frowned, tapping her pencil against the notebook on her desk. “She seemed really nice when I met her. I’ll cross her off the list.”

* * *

**Date #4**

“You’re off age, right?” he asked, scrutinizing Adrien. “Cause I like sex, video games, candy apples…”

The date didn’t last more than thirty minutes.

* * *

**Date #5**

“You like anime too?!” he gushed, looking at Adrien as if he had hung the moon.

He grinned in response, leaning his head closer. “Which is your favorite?”

As the boy in front of him rattled on about Saitama and how cool he was, Adrien’s face softened into a smile.

Yup. He was the one.

* * *

Marinette glanced up as Adrien slammed her trapdoor shut and angrily shucked off his jacket. “I thought the date was going well? What happened?”

He simply grunted in response.

* * *

“I’ve figured it out!” Marinette announced, planting her fists at her waist and staring down at Adrien. 

“Figured out what?” 

“Why you keep on ending the dates.” She grinned at him. “ _Candy apples_.” 

“...You've gone mad.” 

“No, really!” Marinette plopped down next to him on his couch. “The date’s going great, like you’re first and last one, and you’re having a good time. And then they mention that they like candy apples, and your good mood goes _poof_.” She hesitated slightly before asking, “Why?” 

“Chloé.” 

Marinette blinked. “Come again?” 

Adrien sighed, tipping his head back. “When we were kids, Chloé forced me to eat candy apples until I literally became sick of them. Just the smell of them makes my stomach churn.” 

“But why would she force you to eat them?” 

“Something about them being her mom’s favorite sweet? I don't know. Kid me apparently thought it was sad enough to agree with her crazy shenanigans.” 

There was a bit of silence. Then, Marinette snorted. In a matter of minutes, she was hunched over, clutching her stomach as she laughed hysterically. 

Adrien stared at her. “A-are you okay?” 

Marinette nodded, her body still shaking. “I-I’ve _hated_ candy apples since Chloé stuck one in my hair during elementary!” 

He blinked at her before doubling over in laughter himself. 

That was how Nathalie found them both, giggling over another connection they had found, one which spanned years. 


	5. Day 6 - Fog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luka somehow always manages to make things better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

Oh god. Why was Marinette on this trip again?

Oh, yeah. An _expedition_.

An expedition organized by none other Rose Lavillant, who had been convinced that a trip over to the rocky, sea-sides of Europe was just what Kitty Section needed to jump out of the haze known as _artists block_.

Except Rose hadn’t checked the weather forecasts and here they all were, stumbling on a beach with sand shoveled in their boots as fog hovered over them like a titan-sized blanket of clouds.

 _Brilliant_.

Normally, Marinette was a pretty patient person. During an Akuma attack, both civilians and Chat could count on her to keep her head clear and her emotions under control to come up with the best plans to make sure nobody died. But this wasn’t a normal situation, and Marinette had never hated sand as much as she did then.

It was _everywhere_.

“You okay there?” a whisper sounded in her ear, making her jump and causing a surprised squeal to fall from her lips. “Holy— _Luka!_ ”

Immediately, the tell-tale symptoms of a blush set in, a burning from her ears spreading down to her cheeks and then her neck, staining her skin as red as a traffic light on a cold morning. Her fingers snatched up to clutch her jacket, disappearing under the flaps to conceal the fact that they were shaking in equal parts embarrassment and an emotion that Marinette had invented called _oh my god ~~Adrien Agreste~~ Luka Couffaine is talking to me_.

Said boy, completely oblivious to her thoughts, smiled hesitantly at her, eyes flickering over her appearance. “H-hey…are you alright?”

“ _Of course!_ ” When did her voice become so high-pitched? “W-why wouldn’t I be?”

Luka frowned at her slightly, reaching out his hand to touch her forehead and _oh my god he’s touching me he’s touching me he’s touching what do I do—_ “You’re forehead’s really warm. Are you alright?”

Marinette’s flush worsened. “ _Absolutely!_ ”

He stared at her, his frown deepening as his hand slid down slightly to brush her cheek. If the fog hadn’t been there, he would have most certainly seen the steam pouring out of her ears then.

“S-seriously!”

Luka blinked at her before smiling softly. “If you don’t feel well, just let me know, okay? You don’t have to force yourself to stay out just because of us.”

Marinette stared after him as he walked forward, falling into step with Juleka and Rose, who, despite the weather, still seemed incredibly optimistic.

She faintly registered her hand brushing the same place Luka had touched her cheek.

Maybe this expedition wasn’t so bad after all.

“So…” Ivan whispered in her ear. “You and Luka, huh?”

Nevermind.


	6. Day 7 - Haunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because ghosts aren't real...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

“You did tell her that we were superheroes, right? Not _Ghostbusters in Spandex_?” Ladybug asked.

“Well, yeah. But she was really nice, and I didn’t want to disappoint her.” Chat shrugged. “Plus, how many times in your life do you get the chance to visit a real-life haunted house?”

“I know, but this doesn’t look _haunted_. Abandoned, maybe.”

And it truly did, the house in front of them, in all it’s three-story glory. With its gothic architecture and black paint and broken windows, it looked abandoned and old and…creepy. “Okay, maybe a little haunted. Why are we here again?”

“To help out a very kind, old lady with a severe case of _The_ _Conjuring_ in her family mansion,” he recited, as if reading off a script. “And to establish ourselves as _Ghostbusters in Spandex_. That is a very cool name and I refuse to let it go to waste.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Well, I wasn’t. Let’s go catch a ghost.”

* * *

“You seem _way_ too excited for somebody investigating what could just be a hoax,” Ladybug remarked as Chat opened and closed drawers at random.

They both were standing in what must have been a master bedroom almost fifty years ago, ankle-deep in dust and… _things_.

“We are in a house that is as old as my great-grandfather’s grave—”

“Very strange and creepy comparison.

“—and you’re saying that I’m way too excited?” Chat guffawed, flinging his arms out and narrowly missing a candelabrum. “This is an _adventure_ , Milady!”

“You and I very clearly have different definitions of the word _adventure_.” Ladybug sighed, re-shelving the book that she had been examining. “We’ve been in this house for over half-an-hour already. All we’ve found are some spiders and bats. No ghosts.”

“So?”

“ _So_ —” she crossed her arms in front of her chest in annoyance “—maybe there isn’t a ghost! An old lady, who might just be very senile, asked you to investigate a house that would literally fall apart if the wind blows too strong. For all we know, this _ghost_ could just be a figment of her imagination!”

“It _wasn’t_ a figment of her imagination! And nor is she senile! She’s a perfectly sane and happy woman being plagued by something that makes the floorboards creak insistently in the middle of the night—”

The floorboards creaked outside in the hall.

“—and slams the doors shut—”

A door slammed shut somewhere in the house.

“—and causes things to fall down on their own—”

A crash resounded from the floor above them, cutting off Chat’s rant. The loud sound was accompanied by what sounded like thousands of marbles clattering against wood, like a thousand birds chirping in the middle of the night.

They both stared at each other, mouths slightly open, before their heads snapped up, as dust gently rained down from the ceiling to land on their heads.

* * *

Chat Noir had never, _ever_ , climbed a staircase as if his life depended on it. Sure, he had climbed fire escapes and elevator shafts and buildings during Akuma attacks, but he had never found time for staircases. Probably because he was too busy actually getting to the source of the problem than anything.

He burst into the room where the crash had resounded from, being mindful to not the door slam against the wall, with Ladybug hot on his heels.

There, in the middle of the floor, lay a shattered mirror, shards sprayed across the room. There was a single bed pushed against the left-side wall, a nightstand next to it, and a dresser parallel to the door. A piece of wood, presumably a chair from a long time ago, sat in the right-side corner.

“Uh…”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Ladybug muttered at his shoulder. “The dresser is all the way there, so how did the mirror get there?”

“Are you the investigators that my grandmother hired?”

Chat wasn’t proud to admit it, but he jumped. _High_. Both of them spun to face a boy, maybe of fourteen, staring at them. “We-we weren’t aware that there were people in the house—”

The boy frowned at Chat. “My grandmother didn’t tell you? She forgets sometimes, that I exist. Her memory isn’t what it used to be.”

“O-oh. Do you know anything about these _hauntings_ she’s been talking about?” Ladybug softly inquired.

He shrugged. “Things happen. Doors close, floorboards creak, things break. The windows shatter sometimes, but that only happens rarely. Not very often. If you want to really look, you should go to the fourth floor.”

“The fourth floor?”

The boy nodded. Under the pale, flickering light, his skin looked as pale as it looked dead. “That’s where the ghosts _really_ come out.”

* * *

“So, um,” Ladybug hesitantly muttered slowly. “You said _this_ was where the ghosts _really_ came out?”

The boy – his name was _Michel_ , Chat reminded himself – nodded. “I notice a lot of sound coming from the hallway in the middle of the night. When I go to see what it is, nothing is ever there.”

“You’re the lady’s grandson?” Chat asked, pausing his walk to glance at what seemed like a family portrait. The painting was very old, with the paint peeling off and patches where termites had seemingly eaten through the canvas.

It showcased a couple with a young boy, who looked hauntingly like Michel.

“That’s my mother,” Michel said, pointing at the lady in the painting.

“This painting is quite old though.”

Michel shrugged. “The artist was old fashioned.”

He walked on, leaving Ladybug and him behind to exchange puzzled looks.

* * *

“This is my room,” Michel said, opening up a door, which led to a very dusty room. The bed was old, and the writing desk looked ready to collapse.

Ladybug shot him a horrified look. “You live _here_?! On the fourth floor?! Where the ghosts supposedly come out?!”

Michel shrugged. “It isn’t that bad.” He turned to look at both of them. “Why don’t both of you wait here? I’ll get you something to eat and drink. It’s the least I can do.”

He was gone before Chat could open his mouth to protest.

“Chatton, come look at this,” Ladybug called from Michel’s writing desk.

“What is that?”

“It’s some sort of diary. Look at the date.”

Chat glanced at what she was pointing. “This diary is from… _twenty-three years ago_.”

“And the signature. Look at the name used to sign off.”

His heart slightly dropped. “ _Michel_.”

“Yes?”

They both spun around, Ladybug obscuring the diary behind her back. “Nothing!”

Michel shot them an odd look, setting down the tray he was carrying. “I didn’t really know what you all liked, so I just got you some tea and biscuits.

She smiled kindly at him. “Thank you. We have a question if you don’t mind us asking.”

“Not at all. What is it?”

“Did you have any relatives who shared your name?”

Michel tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I think my father was also called Michel? I don’t know. He died before I was born.”

Chat could see the way her shoulders relaxed slightly. “Oh! I’m sorry about that.”

“Hm.” Michel was strange, Chat decided, as a flash of _something_ came across his eyes. “Me too!” He turned away just as quickly as his remark, opening his door and stepping outside. “Please, feel to use my room for the night. I have business to attend to.”

* * *

“Do you find it strange?” Chat asked Ladybug as they huddled on Michel’s rickety bed. This ancient house didn’t have a single heater – at least on the fourth floor – and she had insisted on staying close to preserve the warmth. “The way he talked? It was very old-fashioned.”

“He talked like your father, Chat.”

“And his clothes? He was wearing _bell-bottoms_ , Bugaboo. Not even my dad wore those.”

“Can you just leave it? Please? My butt is freezing and I refuse to talk about him. This family is like the Adams but modern. Get over it!”

* * *

“We’re sorry,” Chat said apologetically, facing the old lady. “We stayed the night but we didn’t find any ghosts.”

“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry for wasting your time.”

“Not at all.” Ladybug smiled at her reassuringly. “Your grandson was very kind.”

“My grandson?” The lady blinked at her, clearly puzzled. “You must mean my son, Michel!”

“No, your _grand_ son.”

The lady chuckled, shaking her head. “I’m afraid you’re wrong. Michel never had any children.”

As she softly laughed, Ladybug turned to Chat and mouthed ‘ _senile_ ’.

From the window above, Michel waved at them, a small smile on his face.

* * *

“You were right,” Marinette blurted, standing in front of Adrien. “About everything. And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.

Adrien stared at her, his calculus book slipping out of hands to land on the table. The librarian shot him a dirty look before vanishing down another aisle. “What?”

“The haunting,” she elaborated as she pulled the seat in front of him and sat down. “The old lady? Her name was Alizeé.” She passed him an old black-and-white photograph. “This was taken on her wedding day.”

Adrien glanced at her before looking at the picture. It showcased a smiling woman and man. “What was the husband’s name?”

“ _Michel_.”

“What?”

Marinette passed him another picture, and his heart climbed into his throat. “This is their _son_ , Michel. He committed suicide _twenty-three years ago_. I checked. Alizeé didn’t have any other living relatives. And remember how Michel kept on talking about his grandmother? The house, before being given to Alizeé, belonged to her _mother_ , who was diagnosed with _dementia_ before she died.”

“So, what you’re saying, is that we met an _actual ghost_.”

She nodded.

Adrien stared at her. “Holy crap.”


	7. Day 12 - Black Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black cats are bad luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

Saying that Adrien Agreste was having a bad day would have been an understatement.

And it showed too, as he sunk into his seat and Nino Lahiffe stared at him with wide eyes, taking in his wet clothes and soaking bag, and his shoes which made weird squelching noises every time he walked. “Dude, you look like you went through hell or something.”

Adrien grunted, leaning forward to strip his feet. As he popped his shoe off – with incredible difficulty – water dripped off his sock, spotting the floor with muddy dots. “I forgot my umbrella.”

“ _How?_ Nadja’s been talking about the thunderstorm since the day before yesterday. _Everybody_ knew—”

“Yeah, well I didn’t!” he snapped, banging his forehead against his desk. He took a deep breath before mumbling, “Sorry.”

“Nah, dude,” Nino replied, clicking his tongue and smiling at him. “It’s fine.”

“Not really, Mr. Agreste,” Madame Bustier called, coming up to stand in front of his desk. “Your homework?”

“Yes, Madame Bustier, let me just find—” Adrien blinked, staring inside his bag. “—my homework?”

“What is the problem, Mr. Agreste?” she questioned, raising her eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten your homework at home.”

“No! I swear I put it in my bag last night!”

Madame Bustier sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Not only were you late, but you also have forgotten your homework. I want it by tomorrow, Mr. Agreste. No excuses.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Adrien mumbled. He groaned, tipping his head back to rest it on the desk behind him. Alya smiled sympathetically down at him, her face looking rather strange upside down, but he didn’t give it much thought, as Marinette ran her fingers through his hair.

“How come you’re so late?” the bespeckled girl questioned.

“My alarm broke.”

Nino whistled. “Looks like this day has been one disastrous event after the other, dude.”

“Please, don’t mention it.”

“Nah, man.” Nino shook his head. “Though I’m quite sure no more accidents will happen. It’s not really possible for one person to have so many problems in one day.”

* * *

Nino had spoken too soon.

* * *

**9:46 AM**

Chloé Bourgeois sauntered into the classroom, fashionably late with a disposable cup of coffee clasped in her hand. Sabrina followed behind her, holding both their bags in her hands.

“Ugh, tell Daddy I want that watch I saw in the magazine yesterday,” the blonde cried out, her attention fixed on her fingers, which she flexed to admire her nails.

“Yes, Chloé!”

“And remind him to fire that maid as well. I will _not_ have somebody who cannot tell the obvious difference between a _John Jacobs_ and a _Vincent Chase_ working in the hotel.”

“Already done, Chloé!”

“Oh, and also add that I want another—”

“Chloé, _watch out!_ ” Mylène cried out, too late, just as Chloé’s foot snagged in the carpet, causing her to lose her balance and her coffee cup to fly out of her grip and go up, up before falling on—

“ _Adrikins! Oh my god,_ I am _so_ sorry—”

“No, no,” Adrien mumbled, standing up from his seat as coffee dripped down his neck and face. “It’s alright, Chloé. Mistake happen.”

“Oh dear,” Alya muttered, before reaching out to swipe some whipped cream off his hair. “Hey, at least this tastes nice!”

Nino groaned as Marinette extended her handkerchief to Adrien, who gladly took it.

* * *

**10:17 AM**

“Oh lord, I am _so sorry_ , I didn’t see you—”

“It’s my fault,” Adrien assured her as Marinette once again held out her handkerchief, which he then used to wipe at the brown stain forming on his shirt. “Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time today that somebody’s spilled coffee on me.”

The girl whimpered, an expression of clear guilt on her face. “Still, I feel horrible.”

“Hey, at least it wasn’t hot or anything. _That_ would have been a disaster.”

* * *

**10:39 AM**

Adrien had never really gone inside the infirmary before, but as he sat on one of the beds, head tilted up as the nurse examined his nose, he felt thankful that he hadn’t.

It smelled _terribly_ like anti-septic.

“It’s not broken,” she concluded, releasing his face. “Just bruised. Bleeding is common in this case. Tell me, what was he hit with?”

“Dodgeball,” Kim whispered. “Adrien, I’m so sorry—”

“I already told you,” Adrien said, his voice sounding incredibly strange to his ears, “that’s it not your fault. I should have been paying attention.”

Marinette patted his shoulder sympathetically.

* * *

**11:58 AM**

“Adrien, _duck!_ ”

“Huh? Wha-oh, _shi_ —”

A loud clang echoed throughout the art room as the can of paint connected with the side of Adrien’s head, drenching him and the floor with blue.

Everybody lapsed in silence, all of them staring at the blue student.

Marinette darted forward. “Are you okay?!”

Adrien reached a hand up to wipe some paint off his face. “Peachy.”

This time, when Marinette gave him her handkerchief, he didn’t give it back.

* * *

**12:35 PM**

It felt as if the entire cafeteria was suspended in time, being so quiet.

Every student sat as still as a rock, all of them staring at the table near the corner, which seated Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and one Adrien Agreste, who stared at the puddle of coffee in his lap, as the young boy who had been passing by near him stood shell-shocked, his lunch tray still tipped in the angle it had been when his cup had fallen off.

Adrien sighed, standing up as coffee soaked his jeans, and walked out of the cafeteria.

Marinette hurried after him, stuffing the remains of her sandwich in her mouth.

* * *

“You poor thing,” Marinette murmured, setting Adrien down gently on her bed. “Why don’t you take a shower? You stink of paint and coffee.”

Adrien ducked his head to sniff at his sleeve before recoiling with a disgusted look on his face, flopping back to lie on her bed. “Ugh.”

She smiled wearily at him. “I’ll get you some fresh clothes for you to change into.”

He groaned. “Chances are I’ll end up slipping in your shower and hitting my head.”

Marinette patted Tikki’s head. “She’ll make sure you’re alright.”

The tiny goddess winked before donning a worried expression. “Where’s Plagg?”

Adrien heaved himself into a sitting position before shoving his hand inside his jacket. When he brought it out, Marinette could see that he was cradling the shaking form of the Destruction Kwami. “He was like this when I woke up. Didn’t something similar happen to Tikki too?”

Marinette gently plucked the kwami from his hand, and run a finger down his back. Plagg whimpered shakily and response and curled tighter into a ball. “Master Fu told me that whenever Kwami’s get sick, it has something do with their inner balance. I’ll see what I can do.”

Adrien grunted his thanks as he got up from her bed and made his way to her bathroom, the Creation Kwami tailing him.

* * *

“See!” Marinette giggled. “Showering was easy.”

“I slipped,” Adrien deadpanned, “twice. Once on a bar of soap and then on the bathroom floor. I almost had my head smashed in.”

Tikki nodded from where she was nestled in the hood of his new, non-coffee-and-paint smelling sweatshirt.

The smile slipped off Marinette’s face. “Oh. I got cookies though.”

Adrien’s mood immediately did a complete one-eighty, his scowl replaced with a radiant grin as he bound towards the plate she had kept on her desk with glee. “Oh kwami, thank you so much- _ow!_ ”

Marinette cringed as the cookie clattered on the plate, Adrien cradling his hand and swearing up a storm. “ _Hot!_ ”

“Sorry!”

He groaned, tipping his head back. “I hate my life.”

“It’s just right now! I’m sure things will get better.”

* * *

“If there is one thing I can tell you,” Plagg drawled, “is that things will _definitely_ not get better. Take my word for it.”

Marinette blinked at him in confusion. “Why though?”

“Tis the curse of the _Black Cat_.”

Tikki choked on her cookie. Adrien reached out to her, alarmed, but she waved him off with her tiny hand before giving Plagg a wide-eyed look. “ _Today_ is Adrien’s curse day?!”

Adrien frowned. “What curse day?”

Plagg nodded, before tipping backward in Marinette’s lap and letting out a loud snore as he went back to dreamland.

Said girl frowned as she contemplated the kwami’s words. “Master Fu never mentioned anything about a curse. Tikki, what was Plagg talking about?”

The Creation Kwami floated in the air, tittering worriedly around Adrien’s face. “Well, the curse of the Black Cat only affects the holders of the Black Cat Miraculous.”

“I figured that out by myself, funnily enough,” Adrien muttered. Speaking louder, he questioned, “What is it about, though?”

“Well, two-thousand years ago, Halloween was celebrated in the ninth month of the Roman Calendar, which in total had ten months. And in Japan, the number nine was considered unlucky because—”

“—the pronunciation of the number sounded like their word for torture or agony,” Marinette completed, nodding her head. “Master Fu told me that the miraculouses held lots of superstitions. But how does this apply here? And what does it have to do with this curse?”

“Well, because it was celebrated in a month which had an unlucky number, it sort of, _culminated_ a huge amount of negative energy. And when we adopted the Gregorian Calendar and shifted Halloween to the tenth month, which is October, it brought all that negative energy with it.”

“Okay,” Adrien said slowly. “But—”

“Let me finish,” Tikki tittered, cutting him off. “Now, Halloween generated an unnaturally high amount of negative energy, and it showed. Whenever October rolled around, bad things would start to happen to everybody. To combat this, what Plagg did was, on any one day of October, his holder would experience ridiculous amounts of bad luck as a way to make sure that the negative energy didn’t leak out and make things go haywire. And such is the curse of the Black Cat.”

The room lapsed into silence, both Adrien and Marinette staring at Tikki with both mouths open.

“So, you’re saying that my day is like hell because a bunch of dudes decided to celebrate a holiday on an inauspicious day?”

Tikki shrugged. “Pretty much.”

Adrien moaned as he flung himself to lie on the ground.

Marinette threw a worried glance at him before turning to her kwami. “Is there any way we can, like, _dull_ the effects? I understand that there might not be a way to completely break the curse—”

“You can brew him a luck potion!” Tikki cried, doing a loop in the air. “That won’t outright cancel the curse, but it will make sure that Adrien doesn’t die by midnight.”

“That doesn’t really sound good.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Tikki said, waving her tiny hand in the air. “No holder of Plagg has died from the curse. At least, not in the last fifty years—”

“ _Tikki!_ ”

* * *

“Do I have to drink this?”

“Yes.” Marinette thrust the mug into his hands. “It’ll help with all the bad luck.”

Adrien sniffed the concoction before recoiling with a look of disgust. “Why do I have to drink a luck potion? You’re literally the epitome of luck!”

“Yes, but me just being there won’t help. You have to drink this.”

With a pinched look on his face, Adrien choked the potion down, gagging slightly after he had finished. “ _Terrible!_ ”

Marinette grimaced. “Well, it _is_ my first time brewing a potion. My skills aren’t exactly top tier.”

“Don’t have to be. What do I do now?”

“Not get in any trouble. Which means staying in my room.”

“I think I’ll take the bad luck.”

“ _Adrien!_ ”

“What?”

“You’d rather take bad luck over spending time in my room?”

“No offense, Princess, but your room’s a literal death trap. There are needles everywhere, you keep Master Fu’s weapons’ underneath your mattress, and _that—_ ” he pointed at the Miraculous Box, set up on the corner of her desk “—is practically a magical bomb. I don’t know how you sleep here.”

“I take offense.”

“Deal with it.”

“Adrien.”

“Fine! But don’t blame me if I end up dying here.”

“Oh my god, stop over-reacting, you big baby.”


	8. Day 14 - Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because it ain't a story without a soulmate au ft. lukanette and other ships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

“Out of all the things my soulmate could be scared of, why do you reckon it be _spiders_?” Marinette asked Adrien, examining her wrist.

“A lot of people are scared of spiders,” he replied, flipping through his copy of the newspaper.

“But it’s so _common_. Five people out of every hundred. How am I ever going to find them?”

“Maybe you don’t,” he said, folding the paper and pocketing it. “Maybe you let them come to you.”

* * *

Marinette stared at Alya and Nino’s intertwined hands as Kim and Alix whooped behind her. “You-you guys are soulmates?”

Alya grinned at her with a thousand-watt smile, dimples appearing on her cheeks. “When Ladybug locked us both in that cage, we started talking. It turns out that Nino’s scared of bees!”

“And Alya’s terrified of bears, despite her dad’s job,” Nino supplied fondly, giving her a smile so sweet that it made Marinette’s teeth hurt.

“I’m so happy for you guys!” Rose gushed, her eyes twinkling as she gushed to the newly christened couple.

The class bellowed their agreement as Marinette’s heart restricted slightly.

* * *

“Ah, Maman? How did you find Papa?”

Sabine Cheng paused as she contemplated her daughter's question, before setting down the dough she had been kneading and reaching out for a towel to wipe her hands. “Where is this coming from?”

Marinette shrugged, leaning against the counter. “I was just curious.” 

Sabine eyed her daughter, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve never been curious about this matter before. Why bring it up now?” 

She shrugged slightly, mumbling under her breath.

“You’re going to have to speak up, you know.”

“Adrien found his soulmate.”

“Oh?” Sabine smiled at Marinette. “That’s great! Who are they?”

“John, from America. He and Adrien met during the holiday. They now video chat weekly.”

“Oh,” she said, as the reason dawned on her. “Seeing Adrien interact with his soulmate made you want to meet yours too.”

“Is that wrong?”

“Not at all,” Sabine said. “You should look for them.”

“Yeah, but…” Marinette sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “You found Papa because of his fear of thunder and lightning. Adrien found John because of his fear of ducks. Those aren’t exactly common. But spiders? That’s like a needle in a haystack!”

“Don’t worry, Marinette. You’ll find them one day.”

“Will I?”

Sabine took in her daughter’s crestfallen look and reached out a hand to smooth back her hair. “I met your father when I was doing my degree here, in the local college. I had stayed up all night studying for an exam and had stumbled into his father’s bakery, looking for some food and coffee.”

Marinette blinked at her. “Really?”

Her mother chuckled. “Oh, yes. We got talking, then he asked me out on a date, and now here we are, married and with a lovely daughter.” She accentuated her last sentence with a gentle pinch of Marinette’s cheeks. “Don’t worry, _chong er_. Finding your soulmate might not be as easy as just finding them in your local coffee shop, but who knows? They might be closer than you think.”

* * *

“Do Gods have soulmates, Tikki?” Marinette asked as she lay on her bed with her hands folded under her head. “Like humans do?”

The tiny God hummed, munching on a cookie graciously as crumbs flew everywhere. “Not really. We have equals though. Plagg is my equal. For Trixx, Nooroo would be her equal. For Wayzz, it would be Dusuu.”

“How are equals decided?”

Tikki shrugged. “I really don’t know, Marinette. I really don’t.”

* * *

“You’ve known Rose was your soulmate…since when?” Marinette asked Juleka as they stood inside the library, browsing the same section.

“When we were kids. We ended up in the same kindergarten class,” Juleka said, glancing at said girl, who seated at a table, flipping through her book.

There was a look on the pale girl’s face that made Marinette’s throat tighten ever so slightly. “How did you both get into a relationship?”

Juleka scrunched her nose as she contemplated her question. “We sort of just…fell into one. In the beginning, it was a little awkward since neither one of us really knew much about relationships and all. We were friends first before anything. Then, it just sort of _happened_.”

Rose glanced up then, and a smile spread across her face as she raised her hand to wave at both of them. Marinette returned it as Juleka slipped away, walking up to the table to press a kiss against Rose’s head and sitting down next to her.

* * *

“How did it feel? When you realized Mylène was your soulmate?”

Ivan glanced at Marinette, who had sat down next to him. “You want to know how it felt…for _me_?”

When she nodded, he rubbed his chin, setting down his pen. “Well, it felt…bubbly. Tingly around my fingers and toes. Like my skin had gone numb or something. And whenever I looked at her, it felt as if my chest was relaxing, as if it had been constricting all my life and I had no clue. Like I found the one thing that gave my heart a reason to beat a little louder and stronger.”

Marinette stared at him, her mouth slightly open. “I- _wow_. You make it sound so… _beautiful_.”

Ivan’s ears burst with color, and she was reminded that despite his large, almost intimidating stature, her classmate took compliments about as well as she did. “Th-thanks.”

* * *

Marc’s lipstick was smudged, Marinette noticed. Marc’s lipstick was smudged, and a great deal of it was also clinging to Nathaniel’s lips.

They both had come out of the art room about half-an-hour ago, their clothes and hair rumpled, a _lot_ of Marc’s makeup smeared on Nathaniel’s face, and their cheeks flushed unusually for two people who had simply spent half an hour talking about writing and drawing.

Marc’s lipstick was smudged, and Marinette wasn’t the only person who had noticed.

“So!” Alix cried, startling both teenagers as she slung her arms around their shoulders. “What have you two been up to lately?”

Nathaniel flushed a shade of red that went fetchingly with his hair as Kim snickered, stepping up to the three of them and none-to-quietly whispering, “ _Boning_.”

Marc squawked as Alix snorted, and Marinette glanced at their intertwined hands.

* * *

“Chloé! Chloé, wait up!”

Chloé Bourgeois spun to shoot Marinette her typical _annoyed with your very existence_ look, Sabrina peaking over her shoulder curiously.

“What do you want, Dupain-Cheng? Ready to admit that you’re just trash?”

“Not really,” she said, slowing her jog down to a walk, stopping in front of her. “I know about you and Kagami.”

All the blood drained out of Chloé’s face, her skin turning pale as her eyes widened in horror.

Sabrina glanced between both of them, confusion spotting her face. “What about Kagami?”

“Sabrina,” Chloé cut through, not taking her eyes off Marinette. “Wait down the street. I’ll come to talk to you later.”

“Uh, yes Chloé!”

As soon as Sabrina turned her back and jogged off, she took three steps forward, causing Marinette to stumble back. “How the hell do you know?!” she hissed, and for a very brief moment, terror flashed in her eyes.

“What? About Kagami being your soulmate? I haven’t told anybody if you’re wondering. I would never. It’s your relationship, not mine. I would never, _ever_ do that.”

Chloé took a deep breath before stepping back slightly, still very close to Marinette. “What do you want?”

“How did you know that Kagami was your soulmate? How did you realize it?”

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I just did, alright? I saw her for the first time and realized she was my soulmate.”

“Just like that?”

“ _Yes_.”

“Okay. Um, how long have you two been together now?”

Chloé’s nostrils flared. “Almost a year.”

“Oh.” Marinette glanced at her, worrying her lip a bit before asking, “Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, why haven’t you told anybody?”

“Not everybody is as accepting as your parents, Dupain-Cheng.”

“What do you— _oh_.” Her eyes widened as she realized what Chloé was saying. “I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t—”

“It’s fine.” Chloé sniffed, shifting her bag higher on her arm. “I’d appreciate it if you pretended this conversation never happened.”

“O-of course.”

Just as the taller girl spun to walk away, she turned her head back to look at Marinette. “You’re looking for your own soulmate, aren’t you?”

She blinked, a little caught off guard by her question. “I, uh…” She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she said, “Yeah. I am.”

Chloé hummed. “Keep looking. I’m sure you’ll find them one day.”

* * *

The party on the Couffaine houseboat was in full swing. Music was playing, food was served, punch was flowing into glasses, and most of the student body had gravitated towards Luka Couffaine, the only actual adult on the boat, despite the age difference between him and Juleka being only two years.

Marinette stayed at the edge of the celebrations, alone and nursing a glass of lemonade that she made for herself in the kitchen. Adrien hadn’t been able to come, partially because of his father and partially because of a call he had with John. She wasn’t really bitter about it, though she would have liked him to be there with her.

The party was great! The music was good, and the food and punch tasted nice – though Marinette had never really been one for fruity drinks – and everybody was mingling and having fun.

She would have been a dirty liar if she said that she hadn’t noticed the couples forming, of course. How Marc and Nathaniel were sitting together, or how Ivan and Mylène were holding hands…

It really made her feel incredibly alone.

A loud shout of laughter made her look at the group surrounding the eldest Couffaine, who was entertaining practically most of the students of her class. Juleka was sitting next to him, Rose practically on her lap, as they all listened to Luka re-tell some story from his school.

“What about your soulmate, dude?” Nino asked, his arm slung around Alya’s shoulders. “You know anything about them?”

Luka shrugged, a small smile on his face as his hand slyly flew to rub his wrist. “Nah, man. Only that they’re claustrophobic.”

“Well, that’s gotta be something, right? What are you scared of?”

He snorted, leaning back in his seat. “Mine’s _really_ common.” Seeing Nino’s questioning look, he sighed before saying, “Spiders. I’m _terrified_ of spiders.”

Marinette stared at him, across a ship, her fist clenched so tightly around her glass she was surprised she hadn’t crushed the paper cup already.

Luka looked up at her at that moment, and their eyes met.

 _Bubbly_ , Ivan had said. _Tingly_ , he had described.

It felt like _lightning_ , coursing through her veins and setting her nerves on fire and making all her hairs stand on end. Her fingers were abuzz with electricity, and her toes were curling tightly in her shoes. Her chest was restricting, her heart hammering hard against her ribs as if the stupid organ had never beaten before, and had just found a reason to come alive.

It felt like the world was crashing and restarting again, as if all the stars had disappeared. Because at that moment, it was just them both, Luka looking at her in confusion as Marinette stared at him with wide eyes and an open mouth.

She blinked, and the illusion broke.

Luka was still looking at her, his features marred with a frown as he raised an eyebrow at her. Marinette shook her head and looked away.

* * *

“So, what was that about?” Luka asked, coming up to stand next to Marinette on the lower deck of the Liberty.

“Oh, uh, n-nothing,” Marinette stuttered. She glanced up at him discreetly, biting her lip. “I didn’t know you were scared of spiders.”

He shrugged, reaching out his hand to rub the back of his neck as he ducked his head. “It never really came up, you know. What are you scared of?”

Marinette looked at him. _Really_ looked at him. Saw his tan skin and his black-and-turquoise hair and his pierced ears and his pink lips and his aqua eyes as he looked at her. “I’m-I’m kind of terrified of small spaces.”

Luka blinked at her. Once, twice, before his eyes widened and he looked at her in a way he had never before. Or maybe he had, and she’d never noticed.

She turned her head away, looking down the river and the city lights, at the Eiffel Tower on the distance.

_Maybe you let them come to you._

“You, uh, ever wanna grab a coffee with me?” she stuttered.

_They might be closer than you think._

“O-only if-if you _want_ to, that is.”

_We sort of just…fell into one._

“I know we aren’t exactly close or anything, but…”

_Like I found the one thing that gave my heart a reason to beat a little louder and stronger._

“When I look at you, my heart feels… _different_.”

_I’m sure you’ll find them one day._

“And now, that I’ve found you, I’d like to get to know you better. Only if you want to, that is.”

Marinette’s phone tinged, signaling midnight just as she felt a hand brush her own. “I’d like that. Coffee, I mean.”

She glanced at Luka and smiled.


	9. Day 16 - Moth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel _really_ should be more afraid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

Gabriel Agreste very honestly had a lot on his plate. Other than taking care of his son who he really tried his best with and having his wife in a coma, locked in his basement – which was _not_ creepy, no matter what Nathalie said – he also moonlighted as a supervillain trying to take magical jewelry from two teenagers – it isn’t stealing if it technically was never theirs in the beginning.

Now, getting facts straight, he knew that his son spent a lot of time with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a promising young designer who Adrien claimed was his best friend. And he had absolutely _no_ objection to his son exploring his sexuality, even if it be with her.

But as the banging coming from his son's bedroom increased in volume, he realized that there might have been more urgent matters than contemplating how to free your loved one from eternal sleep.

He contemplated bursting in, as he stood in front of his entryway and stared at the black door, but even Gabriel knew that would only bring mortification to both his son and his best friend, and perhaps even a fainting episode with Miss Dupain-Cheng – he had noted that apparently she never took compliments or embarrassment well.

So he decided on a simple knock. “Adrien? Can you open the door?”

The banging continued.

“Adrien! I demand you open the door.”

Was it just his imagination, or had the banging worsened?

“Adrien Agreste, if you do not the door this instant I will barge in!”

No answer.

Gabriel turned back to Adrien’s bodyguard, who stepped forward and gestured at him to step back. “I’ve always wanted to do this…” he muttered, just before he kicked the door open, the lock flying into the room.

“Adrien, _what are you_ —”

“ _Kill it!_ ”

“ _Die, Hawkmoth!_ ”

* * *

Nathalie blinked. Adrien’s bodyguard blinked. Gabriel blinked. Again and again and again, taking in the scene in front of them.

The sofa was overturned, the bed in a messy array of sheets and feathers with books thrown all over the floor, and right in the middle of the chaos, running around were Adrien and Marinette, trying to swat a… _moth_?

“ _What is the meaning of this?!_ ”

A pin could have been dropped and still be heard in the silence that ensued, with both of them freezing, Marinette in the act of climbing onto Adrien’s shoulders to reach out and swat the moth fluttering over their heads.

“It’s a moth,” his son stated.

“I can see that. Why were you calling it _Hawkmoth_ though? As far as I can see, it’s not an Akuma.”

There was a wet clap, and Marinette rubbed her palms together, smearing them in insect remains. “We were imagining that the moth was Hawkmoth and tried to kill him. Did wonders to our mood, to be honest.”

* * *

Gabriel was in a state of shock, to say the least, as he shut the door of his office behind him. Perhaps Ladybug and Chat Noir were the smallest concern he had at the moment.

He really should get Adrien a therapist.

And pray to god that Marinette never received a Miraculous.


	10. Day 18 - Toad + Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Marc (and a toad) brings them together. Also, Harry Potter!au.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

Either the world hated her or Merlin had cursed her. Either one.

Because Marinette Dupain-Cheng was not supposed to be here, sifting through the kitchen’s dump yard behind Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, especially not when the second task of the Triwizard Tournament had just finished.

No. She was supposed to be in her bed, in the girl’s dormitory of Slytherin house, snuggled with a book about the purposes of moonstone, not doing a favor for a friend who wasn’t really a friend, but the significant other of a Ravenclaw acquaintance.

This would be the last time Marinette ever agreed to do anything for Marc Anciel, because his toad was either secretly an amphibian-istic mastermind, or very, _very_ evasive, to point that even _Accio Reverser_ didn’t work, or very, very dead, and she didn’t want to be the one who broke the news.

_Morning, Marc! Remember how you asked me to search for your toad yesterday? Yeah, about that…he’s dead. Time for you to get a new one! Bye!_

Marinette shuddered, her mind conjuring a mental image of a tearful Marc, staring at her with watery blue eyes.

That would _not_ go well.

“Are you sure you’re alright, Miss Marinette?” one of the house-elves called, looking at her worriedly, which was justified since Marinette was three spells away from yanking all her hair out and screaming.

“Never been better, Tikki! Are you sure none of the elves have a taste for toad? Or anything similar?”

Tikki shook her head, clasping her hands in front of her. “None of us would dare eat Master Marc’s toad! He must be in there somewhere. I could help you if you’d—”

“Oh, no, no!” Marinette waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “I can do this by myself.”

“But, Miss Marinette, this is why house-elves were employed by the school! To assist the students!”

“I don’t need any assistance, Tikki.” She turned away to once again face the pile of trash that was slowly becoming her reason for a descent to insanity. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, star student at Hogwarts, proud Slytherin, and future Curse Breaker, defeated by a mound of unanimated-ness. Absolutely not. “I’m going to find that damned toad even if it takes me all night.”

* * *

It did not, in fact, take all night.

It did take another one hour though.

The sun was long gone, and the stars had come out, and Marinette was standing inside the school kitchen’s with a toad safely clasped in her hands as house-elves scurried around her holding their noses as high as their short stature would let them – which wasn’t much – in an effort to avoid the horrible smells coming off of her robes.

“You found him!” Tikki exclaimed, her voice incredibly nasal as a pair of clothespins pinched her nostrils shut.

Marinette gave her a tired grin, swaying slightly on her feet. It was well past midnight now, and the effects of not having slept in almost five entire days had set in. She wasn’t really saying that even though the Triwizard Tournament was happening that the classes had eased slightly, but…she was.

“Tikki, if it isn’t too much trouble, could you please provide me with some fresh robes? I highly doubt I’ll be able to walk through the castle undetected smelling like fish carcasses and vegetable peelings had decided to have a baby.”

The house-elf immediately brightened up, finally having been giving a job, and snapped her fingers, magically floating over cleaning garments for her. “Here you go!”

Marinette smiled softly at her grinning friend. “Thank you, Tikki.”

* * *

Snug inside what was not her bed – which would have been _very_ preferable, to be honest – but a clean, freshly ironed pair of robes, she ducked through the portrait that hid the kitchen from the rest of the castle.

It would have been easy to just turn down the hall and go into the Slytherin dormitories for some much-needed sleep, but Marinette had made a promise, and the sooner she got rid of the amphibian which was slowly trying to climb up her wrist, the better.

So instead of going down the hallway which she should have, Marinette swiftly traced the path which would take her a level higher, towards the Hufflepuff common rooms. Hopefully, Adrien was still awake.

* * *

“What do you mean he’s not _here?!_ ” Marinette all but cried, staring at Adrien as if he had just signed her death warrant.

Said boy pinched his nose, sighing deeply before repeating himself. “Marc is in the library. You’ll have to go there to return Reverser to him.”

“B-b-but, can’t I just give him to you?! You can return him to Marc!”

“I really can’t. Marc is the only person who can control Reverser. By handing him to me, you’ll basically be telling him to go off and waste all your hard work.”

Marinette leveled a scalding glare at the toad who was now resting in the palm of her hand, letting out the occasional croak. “It’s one in the morning, I want to sleep, and this toad is driving me _crazy_.”

Adrien looked like he desperately wanted to laugh, but was quite afraid that his tiny best friend would most likely wipe out her wand and hex him into next week. “You should go give Reverser to Marc now.”

“I hate this toad.”

“ _This toad_ has a _name_ , you know.”

“Associating him with a name gives him sentimental value. I already made that mistake by associating him with a gender. To me, he is nothing but the bane of my existence.”

Adrien smothered a smile. “If you say so.”

* * *

Finding Marc, as she had realized, was far simpler than finding Reverser, and for that Marinette was very grateful.

Buried inside one of the lesser-known isles of the restricted section, the black-haired boy had created what seemed to be a fort reprising entirely of books on Arithmancy and Ancient Studies.

“Marc!”

His head shot up, almost banging against the shelf he was sitting against, and went from side to side before he spotted her. “M-Marinette!” His eyes fell on her hand. “Reverser!”

The way Marc embraced the toad, bringing it up to his face and lavishing him with a kiss worthy of _The Frog Princess_ , Marinette wondered if it really was possible to develop a liking for the stupid amphibian. “You, uh, you really care about him.”

He nodded, making literal moon eyes at his pet as he fondly stroked two fingers down Reverser’s back, the toad croaking his pleasure. “My uncle gave him to me when I first got into Hogwarts.” Marc gave Marinette a blinding smile. “It seems Reverser has developed a fondness of you.”

Marinette’s smile broke. “Say what?”

Marc simply gave her another smile.

* * *

Marinette sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as she made her way down the Owlery tower after an impromptu visit to Plagg, her owl.

One step down. Two steps down. Three steps down. Her eyes were so heavy that if they closed at any time, she would most likely tip forward and break her neck falling down.

Not a very comforting thought.

But, _but_ , just as her hand brushed the handle of the door that would lead her down the corridor and then the staircase which went down directly to the dungeons, the sound of bells sounded from the bottom of the tower, and before she knew it, Marinette had spun and dashed down the _opposite_ corridor, the one which did _not_ lead to the staircase but the astronomy classrooms, before opening the first door to her right and then slamming it behind her, effectively cutting herself away from Miss Norris and certain detention.

“Are you alright?”

Marinette would have loved to say that she didn’t yelp like the time Max Kanté had accidentally let loose a Kappa during Defence Against the Dark Arts and it had decided to go after her of all people – _cough_ , Chloé Bourgeois, _cough_ – but then she would be dirty liar, and Marinette did not like liars.

Standing near the balcony of the astronomy class, his back turned to the sky of stars, was Luka Couffaine, Durmstrang champion in the Triwizard Tournament, and the _very_ cute boy Marinette had noticed when his school had made their entrance during the grand feast.

“ _Hot_ —I mean, _hi!_ Hi.” She smiled shakily at him, her hand still on the doorknob in case she made an absolute fool of herself and needed an easy escape.

Luka smiled at her, crinkly eyes and all, and asked, “It’s quite late here, isn’t it? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

Marinette hesitantly chuckled, running her free hand through her hair. “Uh, I was looking for my friend’s toad.”

Crickets chirped. Luka’s smile had disappeared, his mouth hanging slightly open. “Toad?”

“Yeah, he, uh, has a _penchant_ for escaping and ending up in all sorts of weird places.” She glanced at him. “You know, I could ask you the same.”

“What?”

“Shouldn’t _you_ be asleep?”

Luka shrugged, looking back at the sky as he rested his forearms on the railings. “It’s somewhere around four in the morning in Bulgaria. I usually get up at this time.”

Marinette looked at him curiously as she joined him, keeping a good enough distance between them. “What for?”

“Studies, Quidditch…do you play Quidditch?”

She nodded. “I’m the Seeker for the Slytherin team.”

He broke a grin at her. “I’m the Seeker for the Bulgarian national team. We played at the Quidditch Cup last summer.”

“I know. I was there with my best friend. He’s a huge Quidditch nut. Got me into the sport.”

“I hope we can one day have a match with our respective teams, Marinette.” The wink he gave her? _Wowzers_.

Holy hell, Luka Couffain was going to kill her, intentionally or not, and Marinette was going to _thank_ him for it.

* * *

Somebody must have hexed her, because it really shouldn’t be possible to feel as if your soul had been ascended to heave, right?

 _Wrong_.

Marinette practically _glided_ as she made her way back to the Slytherin dormitories, absolutely uncaring on whether or not she was caught by Miss Norris – which she wasn’t, by the way – and had in a sort of dream-like sequence changed her clothes and was now dancing in her dorm room, partnered with somebody who wasn’t really there as all her roommates slumbered on, not noticing her pulling along her jacket as some sort of invisible partner.

_Luka Couffaine asked me out to the Yule Ball._

_Luka Couffain is my date._

_Oh my god, Luka Couffain likes me and he doesn’t think I’m weird and maybe he’ll kiss me? Probably not but oh my god—_

The clock that sat on Marinette’s bedside chimed lowly, signaling that it was now three-thirty and that she _really_ needed to go to bed, but as she pulled back her covers and settled in, a very loud croak sounded across the room.

_It seems Reverser has developed a fondness of you._

Marinette immediately sat up and saw the toad languidly sitting next to her pillow.

“ _Bloody hell—_ "


	11. Day 20 - Potion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because a potion can go a long way with a group of superheroes (just pretend Miracle Queen didn't happen for this one).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Luka has a _slightly_ dirty mind.

“Potion!” Rena Rouge shrieked, dodging the Akuma as it swiped for her head, waiving one of the Guardian’s books in the air. “We need a potion to defeat the Akuma!”

“ _What the hell’s a potion?!_ ” Carapace shrieked back, flipping over the back of the Akuma. “ _And where the hell do we get one?!_ ”

“A potion,” Pegasus called, “is a concoction—”

“ _I know what it means! I just want the context!_ ”

“Oh.” Pegasus turned to Chat Noir, who was detangling the wires that had wrapped around his legs during his fall. “You’ve been super-heroeing the longest here. Do you know how to acquire a potion?”

Chat grimaced as he pushed the last of the wires off of his legs before standing up. He turned to Rena and shouted across two rooftops, “Are you sure we need a potion? Like, can’t we do this by ourselves?”

Rena flipped the book open before burying her nose in it. “Well, the Akuma has a very hard shell-casing around it, which makes it hard for us to land a hit on him since all our attacks are rendered useless. Using a potion can increase our weapons powers _and_ make them more effective!” She turned the page. “It says that—oh, only Guardians can make this potion.”

King Monkey landed next to her. “Aren’t we fresh out of Guardians? The old one did retire, right?”

Pegasus tapped Chat’s shoulder. “Ladybug might know how to acquire the potion. Her miraculous must have re-charged by now, right? We’ll have to get it soon. Carapace, Viperion, and Queen Bee will also need to rest.”

The Cat hero looked like he wanted to argue, but slumped his shoulders in defeat. “I-I—” he sighed. “Call the others.”

Pegasus turned around to signal the three heroes who had been distracting the Akuma to pull back, before hopping off the roof to take cover in a nearby balcony. Resounding thumps sounded around him, signaling his teammates.

“Something wrong, Chat Noir?” King Monkey stage whispered, crouching down. “Cat got your tail?”

Chat’s tail lashed in response, but whether it was intentional or not, nobody knew. “Look, the old Guardian _did_ retire. It’s true. And yes, there is a new one, but I cannot tell you who it is. Nor can I leave you all alone to get the potion. Rena—” he gestured to the Fox hero “—is right. Our attacks are ineffective against this Akuma.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “I know somebody who can provide us with the potion. But you have to swear to me, you can _not_ involve her in Akuma attacks. She is _not_ to be approached _ever_ unless I tell you to. _Got it?_ ”

When all his teammates nodded, he got up. “Let’s go.”

* * *

“Chat Noir,” Rena called as he vaulted over a building. “Where _exactly_ does this person live?”

“Around this area.”

“So why are we heading straight for the Dupain-Cheng Patisserie?” Queen Bee asked.

Chat ignored her in favor of landing neatly on the balcony of Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s balcony before rapping his knuckles against her trapdoor window. “Marinette?”

His response was a single click, the trapdoor swinging open by an unseen force which was apparently enough of an invitation for the Cat hero to climb and disappear inside.

King Monkey gave the now unmoving trapdoor wide eyes, probably expecting to once again start swinging on its on as Carapace and Rena exchanged side glances as Pegasus followed after Chat.

* * *

The inside of Marinette’s room was… _chaotic_ , to say the least. Her bed was rumpled, books were on the floor, and Queen Bee noticed Viperion staring at said girl as she scurried between her desk – which was barely visible through the sea of vials and bottles on it – and the smoking cauldron on her lounger—wait, what?

“You, uh, you got my message?” Chat asked her, his head swiveling left and right as he watched her go back and forth, scooping up ingredients from her desk before they were dispersed in her cauldron and then repeat.

“Yes! Sorry about the mess, I was trying to figure out which book had the recipe, and then my locator spell—” whatever Marinette was going to say about whatever her locator spell was lost as she spun around and froze at the sight of all the superheroes – with the exception of Chat – crowding in one corner of her room, shifting hesitantly. “Oh, you-you bought them along with you.”

Chat shrugged his shoulder, which obviously meant something because Marinette shook her head at him. Chat then raised his eyebrows to which Marinette responded with a frown.

“Uh, it’s very obvious you both know each other really well,” King Monkey interrupted them, “and that’s great! But, um, do you mind letting us in on the convo?”

Marinette blinked at him before spinning around and going back to her desk, somehow pulling out an entire first aid kit from one of its tiny drawers. “Right, sorry, sorry. Um, the potion just needs a couple of more moments to brew, after which I will soak your weapons in it, but until then—” she turned back to them. “Are any of you injured?”

“Just Viperion,” Carapace said, pushing the Snake hero forward.

“Wha—no, no, I’m fine, it’s just a scratch—”

“Nonsense!” Marinette reached out to grab his hand – which elected an almost inaudible squeak from him – before dragging him over to her computer chair and then pushing him down to sit.

Viperion had flushed three shades of red under his mask, and Rena swore that Chat had smirked ever so slightly.

* * *

“Can you show me your wound?” Marinette asked him gently, holding up the solution-soaked cotton ball in her hand.

Viperion eyed her determined look as he felt his face burn a couple of degrees warmer. “I—on my neck, but I-I don’t know how to-to take off my suit.”

Her eyes lit up in understanding as she set the cotton ball down. “I’ll have to open your suit up a little. It’s completely safe, but let me know if you feel uncomfortable, okay?”

He nodded, not really trusting his vocal cords which was a good thing because as soon as Marinette’s fingers brushed his skin, a sound which was two octaves too high slipped out of his mouth.

“I’m sorry, I—”

“No, no!” Viperion ducked his head slightly. “Uh, your fingers were, um, cold. Yeah.”

Marinette giggled slightly before putting her fingers back, and he suppressed the second noise which had climbed up his throat.

_She’s so close what do I do what do I do what do I do—think! Mom doing the macarena. Kitty Section performing on New Years. Guitar chords. The time I walked on Nino in his underwear. Marinette in her underwear—_

Viperion wheezed just as Marinette’s cotton ball touched his wound, the combination of breathlessness and pain making imaginary tennis balls slam inside his windpipe and chest.

“Are you alright?!” she whispered, alarmed as he hacked.

“ _Yes_.”

She blinked at him. “Are you asthmatic? Do you need an inhaler?”

“No! No, it’s fine.” His face was definitely red now. “You-you can carry on.”

Marinette didn’t look very convinced, but she went back to cleaning his wound, which still stung a little, but not so much.

To distract himself from the fact that he could _smell_ her, he let his eyes roam around her room, seeing how Queen Bee was trying and failing to seem completely uninterested in one of the many mannequins, Carapace getting his elbow treated by Chat Noir, who had from _somewhere_ pulled out a second first aid kit, and King Monkey, who wiggled his eyebrows _very_ suggestively and gave him a sly grin.

Viperion groaned mentally.

* * *

“You handled that better than I expected,” Chat commented as they both watched the heroes test out their newly super-powered weapons, swinging them and spinning and in Viperion’s case, plucking its strings.

“It’s easier with the mask,” Marinette hissed out of the corner of her mouth. “I can just pretend that he’s just another superhero. Can you cover for me? I’ll come as soon as I soak my yo-yo.”

“When have I not covered for you?”


	12. Day 24 - Tarot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who needs tarots to tell the future? ft. Lukanette and slight Marcnath with an exasperated Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** \--

“Ay, yo! Marinette!” Alix cried, leaning on the railings of the Couffaine houseboat. “I heard you knew how to handle tarot cards or something. Is that true?”

Said girl flushed in embarrassment as all eyes fell on her, especially a pair of aquamarine ones. “Um, kind of? It’s not like I am really good at it…”

Rose beamed up at her whilst Juleka regarded her with a look of awe.

“Marinette, that’s so cool!”

“Rad, dude.”

“Can you try making any predictions for us, Marinette?” Mylène peered at her. “It’s alright if you can’t.”

Marinette Look at your hopeful face, and stuttered, “B-but I’m not good at it, and-and I-I’ll probably mess up a lot…” she sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “…but I’ll try my best.”

Her answer was met with heavy cheering, and she caught the eye of Luka Couffaine, who grinned at her.

Marinette’s flush worsened.

* * *

The sound of shuffling was the most prominent thing heard in the room as all the students of Madam Bustier’s class – with the exception of a few, and including others – gathered around Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who expertly handled her deck of tarot cards.

“You're really good at this, girl!” Alya gushed, her phone out and recording everything.

Marinette chuckled nervously, shifting slightly on the cushion she was sitting on. “Thanks. Um, who wants to go first?”

Many hands shot up in the air almost immediately, shouts of “ _Me!_ ” echoing throughout the room. Marinette looked around at her friends before her eyes zeroed onto—

“Nathaniel!”

The red-haired artist jolted, looking up from his sketchbook and giving Marinette an alarmed look. “Uh, y-yeah?”

She smiled kindly at him. “Do you want to go first?”

“Uh, sure.”

He awkwardly slid forward, coming up to sit in front of Marinette, who spread the cards on the floor. “Pick one.”

Nathaniel hesitantly raised his hand, before pointing at one of the cards. “That one.”

Everybody in the room looked on with bated breath as Marinette picked the card up, raising her eyebrow. “The Star. This card symbolizes inspiration and co-operation. Inspiration, in terms with your art, and co-operation with, _ahem_ , partners.” She smiled slyly at him. “How have things with Marc been, recently? You’ve been hanging out with him quite a lot.”

He flushed heavily as Alix whooped, Kim reaching out and thumping him on the back. “Way to go, man!”

Marinette grinned fiendishly. “Who’s next?”

* * *

“Is that everybody?” Marinette asked as Kim guffawed on his fortune. People were getting up around her, collecting their jackets and shoes. The sun had set a long time ago, and it was time to go home.

“Not _everybody_!” Rose cried, a mysterious glint in her eyes. Ivan grinned as Juleka appeared into the room, an evil smile on her face as she dragged in the one and only Luka Couffaine.

Marinette felt her ears go pink.

“My brother hasn’t had his fortune read yet.”

Alya snuck up behind Marinette and slung her arms around her shoulder, chuckling wildly. “Marinette would absolutely _love_ to read him his fortune, wouldn’t you, _girl_?”

In that moment, Marinette had the sever urge to tape Alya’s mouth shut.

“Great,” Juleka said, pushing Luka towards her. “Go on. Tell me if my brother will ever become as famous as he wants to be.”

“Juleka!” Luka turned to Marinette and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Kwami, could this boy be any cuter? “Sorry about this. It’s okay if you don’t want to—”

“It’s fine!” She flushed harder. “I-I mean, I’ll do it if you want me to, and _only_ if you want me to. It’s okay if you don’t—”

“He wants to,” Juleka interrupted. “He definitely does. Trust me.”

“O-okay.” Marinette shuffled the cards in her hand before spreading them out on the floor again. “Pick one.”

Luka bit his lip – yes. This boy _could_ get cuter – and furrowed his brows in concentration, looking over the cards. “This one?”

Marinette picked up the affronted card. “The Moon. This card symbolizes facing the unknown. Have faith and trust. You will see the light in whatever issue you are facing. Trust your intuition and work with your dreams.”

“Damn,” Juleka muttered. “These cards really are accurate. Do another one!”

“No—” Luka began.

“ _Yes!_ ” Rose cut him off.

Both of them turned to give pleading looks at Marinette, who sighed before reshuffling her cards. “Pick another.”

“This.”

Marinette picked up the card and almost dropped it, her cheeks flushing three shades red.

Luka frowned. “Is everything okay?”

“ _Ab-absolutely!_ ” She ducked her head, the flush working its way down her neck. “You, um, you picked the-the _Lovers_.”

Alya whistled behind her. Juleka and Rose wore twin grins of evil. Ivan leaned forward in his seat whilst Nino and Max paused slightly, deliberately wearing their shoes slower than it was necessary.

Marinette groaned internally. “The Lovers indicate a decision about an existing relationship, as well as a, uh, _temptation_ of the heart and-and, um, a choice of potential p-partner. You believe that you might have found your s-soulmate—” her hands were shaking “—or life partner, and something about sexual energy? I, uh, _don’t really know more and its something along those lines, and-and_ —”

She made the mistake of looking up and almost dropped the card.

Luke Couffaine, also titled the most _laid back and cool dude in the history of dudes right after Adrien Agreste_ by Nino, was staring at her with his aquamarine eyes ten shades darker than usual – looking _definitely_ not laid back _or_ cool – like he wanted to _devour_ her.

Marinette.exe was about to stop working if she didn’t do something. _Fast_.

“ _Holy crap, have you looked at the time?! I really have to leave and get some sewing done and water my plants and-and-and, yeah! See you later bye!_ ”

If somebody said that Marinette Dupain-Cheng had not broken the record for fastest exist in the world, they were a dirty liar.

* * *

“You ran out?” Adrien asked, staring at her in disbelief as he sat on her computer chair.

“Yes,” Marinette grumbled, wrapped up on her bed with her head buried in her pillow.

“You ran out on him, by saying that you had to _water your plants_ in the middle of the night, after he looked at you, quote-unquote, _like he wanted to devour you_.”

“Yes.”

Adrien blinked. “ _Why?!_ ”

“I don’t know! I freaked out, and he was staring at me like that and-and—” she was waving her hands in the air now, frantically gesticulating.

“You ran out on him because of _hormones?!_ ”

“ _Yes!_ ”


	13. Day 27 - Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't play with ouija boards, kids. You might summon ghosts and electricity problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Sleep-deprived Marinette swears a lot.

The next time somebody knocked on Marinette’s door, she would deca-pi- _tate_ them, and then _paint_ the walls with blood. Because it was three in the goddamn morning and she wanted to _sleep_ , but no, because she and a good chunk of her class were trapped in a cottage that Alya had rented in the middle of Kwami-knows-where and what Alya wanted Alya got – she was even more persistent than Chloé in those ways – and apparently there was a freaking _ghost_ of all things somewhere in the vast maze of tunnels that was being referred to as the _basement_.

Now, it wasn’t that Marinette didn’t believe in ghosts. Quite the opposite, in fact, since she and Adrien had a run-in with one a long time ago, but in the face of looming sleep deprivation, she’d take being haunted any day over losing precious sleep because this was supposed to be a _vacation_.

But Marinette was weak, and so the next time somebody knocked on her door, albeit hesitantly, she sighed and threw off her blankets before slipping on her sandals and padding over to unlock the deadbolt. “What is it _now_?”

Kim smiled at her shakily, and she noticed Alya and Nino glancing over his shoulders all while simultaneously using him as a cover in case she screamed and raged at them for disturbing her – which made her only the _slightest_ bit proud of her own scariness – before Max, popping out from in between them, softly asked, “Marinette?”

“ _Yes?_ ”

He flinched at her sickly sweet tone which was drenched with malice and adjusted his glasses with one hand, keeping the other very firmly attached to Kim. “Um, could you come with us for a couple of minutes? We just needed some help.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

* * *

“You wanted me to come down,” Marinette said _very_ , _very_ slowly, “because you wanted me to switch on the _fucking lights?!_ ”

Max whimpered as he huddled behind Kim, who was steadily sweating through his shirt because whenever his tiny classmate pulled out the swear words, they knew shit was going to go down. “W-well, you see, um, there-there is, uh, a g-ghost?”

Marinette’s eye twitched. Kim sweated some more.

“And you couldn’t do it yourself because…?”

“We-we’re scared o-of g-ghosts?”

Marinette’s eye twitched faster. “And what makes you think there’s a _ghost_ in the basement?”

Alya hesitantly pointed at the low-stooped table in the middle of the living room, which was half-covered in soda cans and an ouija board. “We, um, kinda, uh, _messed around with that_?” She chuckled nervously before curling even tighter into Nino.

Never before had Marinette ever had the urge to absolutely _strangle_ her best friend as she did then, because it seemed that no matter how many horror movies they watched together, she never fully grasped the fact that doing weird shit like _summoning a fucking ghost_ could have _horrifying_ outcomes.

“You’re telling me to switch on the lights, which may or may not have been tampered with by a ghost that _you_ summoned, down in the basement, _exactly_ where you think it’s roaming around?”

The ensuing silence was enough of an answer for Marinette.

* * *

“Is this a basement or a maze?” Marinette muttered to herself as she shined her flashlight on the ceiling, highlighting heavy dust and a blanket of cobwebs as she took the steps down to the second floor of the basement, which would eventually give way to _another_ staircase, which would take them down to the third floor and the lightbox. Of course, only after they _found_ it.

Juleka chuckled somewhere behind her, and Rose squeaked lightly, “ _Stop laughing!_ ”

“Sorry, sorry.”

The steps ended, a premature scent of decay flooded her nose, and the path split into four different ways, all going in different directions. “Okay, _definitely_ a maze.”

Marinette spun around, tucking her flashlight into her fist, which she then planted on her waist. “Well, since you shitheads deliberately woke me up for a mundane task that even _children_ can do, I’m going to split you guys up. Max, you go with Nino. Alya, you’re with Kim. Luka can accompany Rose, so that leaves Juleka with me.”

Several sounds of protests bubbled at her entourages lips, which were then ruthlessly silenced by one of Marinette’s infamous glares, which promised acute pain to anybody who dared to speak against her. “No questions? Good.”

“Um, Marinette?” Rose shakily raised her hand, her eyes darting left and right as she shifted uneasily. “C-Can I go with Juleka, please?”

Said girl provided a pleading look over her girlfriend’s shoulder, and suddenly Marinette was being subjected to an onslaught of puppy eyes and quivering smiles. “Ugh, fine. Alya, Nino, you’re still with your respective partners.”

Alya and Nino groaned as Rose brightened up, her earlier worry and nervousness practically poofing into the air. “That means you can partner up with Luka!”

Marinette ignored the way her heart went in circles.

* * *

It was the third time in the past fifteen minutes that Luka Couffaine had jumped at the sight of a spider and almost barreled into Marinette, grabbing her arm in the process – not that she was complaining. His skin was ridiculously soft and he smelt like the ocean which really should have been possible considering that he lived on a boat in the Seine, and the river didn’t particularly smell all sunshine and roses. He also made the most adorable sounds of fear whenever he spotted the invertebrated demons of his fear, and yes, Marinette realized that she was sounding like a creep now but God broke several rules giving Juleka this hot piece of ass for a brother, and if they could do that, she could surely take a few moments to appreciate him.

“Sorry,” he muttered, detaching his hand from her shirt sleeve and even though her heart protested at the loss of contact, she kept her face impassive because she was supposed to be pissed, even at Luka Couffaine, the too-hot brother of her classmate for not stopping said classmate and her crazy friends from playing around with an ouija board and subsequently summoning a ghost.

“It’s fine.”

Luka smiled warily, still sticking close enough for Marinette to smell his cologne and the distinct scent of soda which seemed to cling to his shirt. “You think this is the right way?”

She shrugged, angling her flashlight to shine on a particularly slopped part of the ceiling. “The concrete is partially sunken here, even more so than the other tunnels, so I’m inclined to believe that there might be a staircase around here. All we have to do is find it.”

“And the ghost?”

Marinette gave Luka a deadpan look. “You should know better than the others, Luka, that ghosts don’t exist.”

* * *

The backup generator rumbled before the entire corridor was flooded with light, and from somewhere above her, Marinette heard Nino whoop.

“ _Yes!_ ”

She sighed, leaning heavily against the wall as she rubbed her neck. “God, I’m so tired.”

Luka grinned at her. “You did it!”

Marinette gave him a sleepy smile as her head dropped further down, the calming sound of his voice sounding like a very soothing melody.

There was a slight pressure on her head, hair being pushed back from her face before somebody picked her up, her legs leaving the floor and being encased in warmth, and then she fell asleep.

* * *

Marinette almost, _almost_ tumbled out of her bed when she shot up, sunlight streaming in through her windows.

“ _Holy­—_ ”

“Oh, good! You’re awake!” Alya chirped as she pushed her bedroom door back, stepping in with a tray laden with eggs and bacon. “I made you breakfast as thanks for getting up in the middle of the night to help us.”

The shorter girl stared at the tray as it was set on her lap. “Wait, did I fall asleep in the basement?”

“Uh-huh.” Alya gave Marinette a cheeky smile. “Luka carried you up. Bridal style.”

Her cheeks immediately flushed a deep carmine as her traitorous mind conjured images of Luka carrying her up the stairs, tucking her into bed, and from the shit-eating grin Alya was giving her, she knew it too. “S-Shut up.”


	14. Day 31 - Wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They kiss in this one. A lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings:** Do make-outs count as a warning?

The crowd was _very_ loud, and Luka was worried.

“Do you think we’ll be heard over this noise?” he shouted to Juleka, who was holding Rose’s hand firmly in her own, lest the tiny girl be swept away by the roaring crowd.

“You can literally blow cars away using your guitar!” she shouted back. “I’m quite sure this crowd will hear us!”

He glanced at her, not entirely convinced before Ivan’s hulking frame slipped through a tight squeeze of people to stand next to him. “I’ve got the backstage passes. We can go in now.”

Luka breathed a sigh of relief as he followed his rather large teammate through the throng of the crowd, having multiple people either step on his feet, bump into him, and on one instant, try to jump into his arms having mistaken him for someone else.

“Here,” Juleka said, handing Luka his guitar as she hoisted her bass with her free hand. “We’re due to perform in fifteen.”

He nodded at her, taking his guitar and checking his watch. “Uh, that group you said, the one which wanted to meet us, are they—”

“Oh, they’re here!” Rose jumped up, waving her hand wildly in the air. “Alya! Alix! You guys came!”

Cheering came from the corner that Rose had waived at, and Luka turned around to see the two girls, as well as Nino, Max, Kim, Nathaniel, Mylène, Adrien, and— “What are you guys doing here? And why are you wearing superhero t-shirts?”

“So are we, idiot,” Juleka muttered, elbowing him harshly in the stomach, causing him to glance down at his own Ladybug t-shirt. “Oh, yeah!”

Alya grinned at him, her rounded glasses lifting up slightly as she proudly displayed her Carapace t-shirt, Nino behind her wearing a Rena Rouge one. “Whatcha’ gonna’ play tonight, statuette boy?”

Luka scrunched his nose at the use of her favorite nickname for him, never having really understood why she called him that. “It’s a surprise.”

Nino grinned at him over his girlfriend's shoulder. “Oh, yeah? Well, we’ve got a surprise for you too! Marinette!”

“Hey, Luka!”

Luka felt his neck redden rapidly as he glanced at Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who was wearing a—wait, _what?_

“I-I didn’t know you-you liked Viperion,” he stuttered out, his tongue feeling entirely too big for his mouth because _wow_.

The t-shirt obviously didn’t belong to her, too big and looking more like a sweater dress, and it had been tied up and then tucked into her skirt at the bottom, with the sleeves dwarfing her hands in both length and size.

Her hair was twisted up very neatly in a bun, her big, bluebell eyes staring at him through dark lashes and smoky, lined eyelids with her cheeks lightly dusted in pink – no doubt Alya’s work, that girl was downright _meddlesome_ – and her very soft-looking lips coated in lip gloss and looking like candy—

 _Bad Luka_.

He glanced down, away from seductive eyes and pretty lips and caught sight of her legs, wrapped in tight fishnets which started from inside ankle-length boots and ended just below her skirt, offering a peek of smooth, white skin which Luka kind of wanted to bite.

His head immediately shot up, getting a direct eyeful of Alya, Nino, and Adrien with maniacally large grins, staring at him looking at their classmate's legs just a few seconds ago.

_We do not associate with the classmates of our sister._

_We do not date the classmates of our sister._

_And we sure as hell do not have dirty thoughts about the classmates of our sister._

Juleka, the absolute angel and God’s gift she was, elbowed him at that precise moment. “We have to perform now, so if you’re done staring—”

Scratch that.

“ _Yes_.” And he very slyly stepped on her foot, and relished in the glare she gave him.

* * *

“You were _awesome!_ ” Mylène gushed, bounding over to leap at Ivan, who embraced her with both arms and twirled her around, hugging her tightly.

Nathaniel offered Luka a rare, small smile before looking back at his phone, intently typing away to god knows who.

Alix and Kim had crowded over to Juleka, who was heavily guzzling her water bottle and giving them a tired smile as Nino and Alya gushed at Rose, who was wiping sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand all while animatedly participating in their conversation.

Luka tugged the collar of his shirt up, exposing his stomach and waist slightly to the fridged October air, and rubbed it down his face. Tugging it back down, he saw Marinette staring at him, her mouth partially open and eyes glazed over before she blinked and the apples of her cheeks flushed even deeper underneath the blush she was wearing. “H-hey! You-you performed really well!”

His neck warmed drastically as he grinned at her. “Thanks!”

Rose bumped into him, tapping him gently on his arm. “How about you and Marinette get out of here? The reporters will be coming soon and I can't imagine either one of you wants to be there for the questions.”

“Oh yes!” Alya gushed, grabbing his hand as well as Marinette’s before placing them on top of each other. “You _both_ should totally get out of here. _Alone_. And do some nice things, you know, like get ice cream and take a walk, _together_ , on an empty street—”

“ _Alya!_ ” Marinette squeaked, her cheeks flushing even deeper, and she glanced at Luka through her lashes, his face as red as the cartoon ladybug drawn on his shirt.

“She’s right,” Adrien announced, crowding over with Nino, both of them wearing matching shit-eating grins on their faces. “You guys should _really_ go. I think somebody let it slip that I’m here, cause there’s this _huge_ crowd coming along with the reporters.”

“Don’t worry, Marinette,” Mylène said, patting her on the arm. “Ivan and I are also heading out. Wanna come?”

Marinette looked up at Luka, who shrugged. “Uh, sure.”

But as Luka stared at their backs, following them to the exit, he couldn’t help but feel as if those two were planning something.

* * *

Marinette was correct. Those two little shits had _definitely_ planned this, this being them ditched on a deserted street as Mylène and Ivan vanished off to Kwami-knew-where. _Alone_.

The next time she saw Alya or Adrien, she was going to _strangle_ them and then bury their bodies somewhere that even the most competent digger would never find them.

Luka sighed. “Oh well. Here we go.”

Marinette groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I’m _so_ sorry, Luka. They’ve got it into their heads that-that—”

“That what?” Luka looked at her. “What have they gotten into their heads?”

“That-that, um…” Marinette blushed furiously, darting her head to stare at the ground. “I-I, kinda, um, _like you_?”

“And are they correct?”

They both lapsed into silence, Luka still staring at her and Marinette rocking on her feet, gaze still fixed stubbornly on the ground.

“Can I kiss you?”

Marinette choked. On air, on her spit, and hacked heavily as her face flushed three shades red before her head whipped from the ground to look at Luka Couffaine, who was staring at her with impossibly dark eyes.

“I— _what?_ ”

“Can I?” he asked again. “Kiss you?”

She blinked at him, once, twice, and then a couple of more times just to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. “I—m-me?! You-you want to k-kiss _me_?”

Luka didn’t reply, still staring at her intently.

Marinette didn’t know what exactly happened next, except that she had very softly muttered a breathy “yes” and that Luka had shoved her against a wall.

His lips were soft and tasted faintly of peaches which was kind of surprising because Marinette had always chalked Luka up to a chocolate kind of person, and then _oh kwami_ he was doing this thing to her bottom lip that made odd sounds spill out of her mouth and holy crap, where was all her blood rushing?

Her hair was being parted at the back, ruffling out of the bun she had spun it into earlier and then being bunched up by one of Luka’s hands while the other burned a trail of pure fire at her waist before it slipped under her shirt and Marinette squeaked out another sound that was swallowed by him, pressing even tighter against her until the only thing she could smell and taste and _feel_ was Luka.

Oh _wow_ and oh _god_ things were going fast because Marinette was pretty sure her leg was _not_ supposed to be climbing up and hitching around his waist at least until date three, right?

Yeah, but _obviously_ her brain didn’t particularly care because _somehow_ her arm had winded itself around his neck, tugging on the fine hairs of the nape of Luka’s neck as the other curled itself into the collar of his Ladybug shirt.

Then his lips left hers and Marinette almost cried because _why_ , but then his mouth found her neck and _bit_ and she moaned.

“Did you—did you just—”

She clapped her hands over her mouth, Luka straightening to stare at her with awe in his eyes, and her Ladybug reflexes registered movement in the corner of her eye, only to see—

“ _Oh my god!_ ”

Rose and Nathaniel stared at them, their faces as red as the formers namesake and the latter’s hair as Juleka looked on with her mouth partially open. Adrien was practically wheezing next to her, with Alya cackling and Nino giving the both of them thumbs-ups. Kim and Alix wore matching grins as they wriggled their eyebrows at them, while Max had covered his eyes but still wore a very visible smile.

“ _How long have you all—_ ”

“ _Were you spying—_ ”

“ _What the hell—_ ”

Adrien finally stopped laughing and gave Marinette a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween, and thank you for reading!
> 
> -Aztec


End file.
